


II. (Tell the World I'm) Coming Home

by velithya



Series: Coming Home [2]
Category: Final Fantasy XIII
Genre: Chocobos, F/F, Post-Game
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-26
Updated: 2012-12-26
Packaged: 2017-11-22 12:07:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/609651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/velithya/pseuds/velithya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This close, she can't let herself hope.</p>
            </blockquote>





	II. (Tell the World I'm) Coming Home

**Author's Note:**

> Only took me twelve months to finish this! Apologies for the wait, and I hope it's as satisfying as you were hoping.  
> This follows on directly from part one.

****

**II. (Tell the World I'm) Coming Home**

It takes two days for the blizzard to die.

***

It's the silence that wakes her. Since the start of the blizzard, day and night have been indistinguishable; just hour after hour of snowflakes swirling in the darkness outside the cave mouth - but over everything, always, has been the constant roar of the wind.

It takes her a moment, tucked in the warmth of the chocobo's wing, to realise that aside from the soft rustling of the chocobo's feathers, it's completely silent.

She blinks open her eyes, wriggling up a little, and that's another change - there's actual _sunlight_ streaming in through the mouth of the cave. It's weak, and fighting past the feet of snow partially blocking the cave mouth, but definitely sunlight nonetheless.

"It's stopped snowing," Fang says, and the chocobo gives a little chirp, twisting its head around to peer towards the entrance. She's gotten used to talking to the chocobo, now; it might not understand everything she says, but it seems to be pretty intelligent. 

And, after all, it did save her life.

She sits up, starting to untangle herself from her sari. If the blizzard has finally blown itself out, they should be able to get moving again, and make some progress toward Oerba.

She slides out from under the chocobo's wing to finish dressing, then moves over to the cave mouth. The snow's high at the entrance, blizzard driving the snow up into a little barricade, nearly to her hips; but it looks lower in the open, where the wind would have forced it to keep moving. If they can just get over the initial hurdle, travel shouldn't be too much more difficult than it already has been.

She tries using her hands first, but the snow is, of course, frozen solid. Her lance is next, but even disassembled into sections to allow for the low roof of the cave, she doesn't get much leeway. It's working, but very slowly, and the snow she's dislodging from the top of the barricade is just sliding down to make it wider.

She snaps her lance back together, stabbing it into the side of the snowdrift. There has to be something else she can do. If Lightning were here - and Fang snorts at that, because Lightning wouldn't let something so simple as a snowdrift stand in her way, she'd just-

Fang blinks. She'd just use _Firaga_.

She's brushing her fingers over her arm before she realises what she's doing; she's still not used to the feel of her skin without the brand, smooth and unblemished. But she knows there's still something there, some connection - back in the crystal spire, when she'd called for an Aero, _something_ had answered. If she can just tap into that again-

She drops her hand to her side and closes her eyes. Last time she'd called for her magic without thinking, without knowing her brand was gone, and what had answered had been beyond her control. She knows better, now. She still has magic - the ribbon tied around her arm and woven through her being is proof enough of that. She just needs to learn again how to reach for it without the filter of her brand to smooth the way.

She takes a deep breath, blows it out slowly, and sinks into herself. Her magic draws at her, pulls her down, and she lets herself fall.

It's a rush, glowing lines streaking past in the darkness behind her eyelids. She knows she's standing in the cave, knows she's not physically moving, but she feels weightless at the same time, wind washing over her face and streaming through her hair.

The glowing lines get brighter and brighter, and she has a second to wonder whether falling was a bad idea before everything around her lights up and she crashes right into the heart of her magic.

It's _overwhelming_.

She's been mired in the molten rock of the shell of cocoon; been hit with all of the elemental spells and ruinga beside; she's taken an ultima head on. This is nothing like any of them and everything like all of them _all at once_ , only _worse_ , because she's inside her own head and it's all she can do to _breathe_. It's over her and through her and _in_ her; she _is_ the magic, everything else washing away under the assault. She's struggling for breath, but there's no air, nothing but magic and the thundering of her heartbeat-

***

She choking when she wakes, rolling onto her side as she breathes in heaving gasps. She's sprawled on the floor of the cave, cheek pressed into the dirt. She feels wrung out, everything muffled after being lit up so brightly. She can faintly hear squawking, and then the chocobo comes into her blurry field of vision, dropping its head down near her face.

"Hey," Fang says, or tries to say - her voice is _wrecked_ , barely a whisper, and her throat hurts like she's been screaming.

Has she been screaming? She doesn't remember what happened after she found her magic, but she _feels_ burned alive, burnt out. She wouldn't be surprised to find that she'd been screaming.

The chocobo keeps squawking, agitated pitch belied by the way it's nudging her gently with its beak, like it doesn't want to hurt her.

"Sorry to scare you," Fang whispers. She tries to move again, but suddenly _everything_ hurts and she sags back to the floor with a whimper.

The chocobo flutters its wings for a moment, claws skittering across the floor, and then it darts out of her field of view. It's back again a moment later, dipping its head down right next to her face, and Fang nearly goes cross eyed trying to follow it before she realises it has _snow_ in its beak.

"Thank you," she rasps, and leaves her mouth open as the chocobo carefully tips the snow out.

Half of it still ends up on the dirt, but the rest of it lands on her tongue, blessed coolness and moisture, and she tucks it into her cheek to melt. The chocobo flutters around a moment longer before squawking one last time and settling itself down next to her. It fluffs its wing out over her, cooing, and Fang smiles around the snow, letting the gentle warmth sink in. She needs to work out what she just did and whether it will let her cast magic, work out if she needs to try again, but before all of that, before she'll be of any use, she needs to _rest_.

***

It's near dark when she wakes again. She starts to stretch automatically, before memory comes crashing down along with the pain. She lets out a strangled noise, the chocobo chirping back at her. It's still settled in against her, warm and solid, and Fang's never been so grateful that the chocobo chose to come with her than she is right now.

"May I-" she starts, and has to cough to clear her throat. "May I have some more snow please?" At least her voice is louder than a whisper, although she's still hoarse.

The chocobo chirps back at her and lifts up, going out of her view. It's back again a moment later, and Fang opens her mouth, snow once again a blessing for her dry mouth and aching throat.

The chocobo settles right back down next to her and she lets herself lean into the warmth. She definitely doesn't hurt as much as she did when she first woke; hopefully by tomorrow she'll be able to move and they can get out of the cave.

She closes her eyes.

***

The chocobo pokes her awake at daybreak from restless dreams. She takes a moment to breathe and push the crawling fragments of the dreams away - she is no longer a l'Cie, she is free, she is her own, and she will keep her promises. She goes to shift without thinking and freezes immediately, but there's nothing - the crushing pain is gone. She still aches all over, feels like she went three rounds with a king behemoth and then some, but she should be able to move.

She rolls to her front, getting up in stages - first to hands and knees, then sitting back on her heels, then to standing. She's a little light-headed, but she's on her feet, and more than ready to get going. She's never been one for sitting around when she could be _doing_.

"Okay," she says, and takes a few steps over toward the mouth of the cave. "Let's try this again."

She deliberately relaxes her hands at her sides, takes a breath, and closes her eyes. 

She's cautious this time when she reaches out, the memory of burning, overwhelmed, still very fresh in her mind. There's none of that though - she has a weird overlay of impressions, _cool_ and _purple_ and _shadow_ all at once, and then it's like a switch has been flipped - she can feel her magic again, all of it, resonating in and through her. It's not painful, although if she thinks about it, concentrates around the magic, she can feel the shadows at the edges of the magic, surrounding it.

"Alright," Fang says, and opens her eyes. She's bridged the gap left by her l'Cie brand; now that she's capable of it, it's time to get moving.

She pulls her lance out of the snowdrift first, shaking snow off the blades and sliding it onto her back. "Ready to get out of here?" she asks the chocobo, and gets a squawk in return. 

"You might want to take a few steps back," she adds, and the chocobo sidles all the way to the back of the cave.

She turns back to the snowdrift. Fire was the first elemental spell she learned; she _knows_ Fire, the hot build of pressure, the _crack_ of ignition and the sudden wave of heat and flame.

She lifts a hand, and _calls_.

Fira blooms around her hand, flames pooled in her palm and licking up her arm. She throws her hand out toward the snowdrift, and there's the _crack_ as the entire drift just explodes into heat and steam.

She's laughing before she even realises it, body aching but humming all the same with the new cool touch of her magic. She shakes her hands out, brushing one across her arm purely on reflex, and suddenly she's struggling to breathe, because _there's something under her fingers_.

She turns her head so fast her aching neck screams a protest, but she can't think about that right now because she's sliding right into last night's nightmares, and she cannot have a l'Cie brand on her arm, not now not after all her sacrifices not after _everything_ -

It's not a l'Cie brand, and for long moments as she stares at the design etched onto her arm, that's the only thought she can process. It's not a l'Cie brand. She's still free. It's not her nightmares come true, and then she's laughing again, edge of hysteria to the sound, because she's not a l'Cie and the relief is so overwhelming she can't do anything else.

She manages to calm her breathing after a while, crouching curled over herself, hand still compulsively stroking against her arm. It's not a l'Cie brand, but if that's the case - what is it?

She pushes back to her feet, and looks at her arm.

Where the centre of her l'Cie brand had been, right over the eye, is a circular design, circles within circles within circles, smaller cross-hatching and some kind of script decoration between the rings. Extending from that, up over the curve of her shoulder and down halfway to her elbow, is some kind of design that reminds her of her warrior tattoo on her other shoulder. It's wide at the base where it touches the outermost circle and comes to a point at each end, and has a series of jagged spikes along the edges as it tapers. It's a purple so deep it's almost black, and it's both familiar and completely foreign all at the same time.

When she extends her awareness not to her magic but specifically to the new design embossed into her skin, she's hit again with that _cool purple shadow_ feeling from earlier, along with a sudden flash of the design but much much larger, encompassing everything around her as she stands at the epicentre. It's not painful - for all she knows, this is just the mark of her new connection to her magic. Maybe it needs some kind of physical representation on her body in order to allow her access without being overwhelmed. Maybe it's nothing.

But she can't help but feel like she's seen it before.

***

The chocobo is cowering against the back wall when she finally turns around. She shouldn't be surprised, really - the chocobo had known them before, but it had been more skittish, running from confrontation. It may never have been so close to magic being cast before.

"Hey," Fang says, lowering her voice as she takes careful steps towards it, making sure to stay where it can see her. "It's okay."

The chocobo makes a tiny chirp, like that's all it can manage, sides heaving for breath, and Fang takes another slow step. "You're okay," she says, and carefully puts out a hand. "Everything's okay."

The chocobo makes another tiny noise but doesn't protest when she carefully strokes through the feathers at its shoulder. She takes the last step and presses herself against it, wrapping her arms around its shoulders and hugging it.

"You're okay," she says again, and then the chocobo's curling its neck around her, low panicked noises coming from it as it trembles.

She soothes her fingers through its feathers as it slowly calms, murmuring quiet nonsense all the while - it's okay, you're okay, you're being so brave. Thank you for coming with me. I'd have died twice over without you.

Eventually it quiets under her ministrations, and curls its neck away, shaking free so that it can look at her.

"A fine pair we make, hmm?" Fang says, and the chocobo squawks and jostles her, and they're okay again.

***

When they exit the cave the snow is nearly blinding. The sky is partly cloudy, visible sections a washed out blue.

"Let's get back to the river," Fang says to the chocobo, and unslings her lance. It's a trial to pull herself up, muscles crying out in protest, and she's shaking when she finally makes it, breathing hard.

"Sorry," she says, because that must have been the most ungraceful mount ever, and she probably kneed the chocobo in the side on the way up.

The chocobo squawks at her in answer, poking her in the shoulder with its beak, and then they're off, puffs of snow flying up behind them as the chocobo moves. Even though it had taken on something of dreamlike quality when she thinks about it now, the trip from the river to the cave had seemed painstakingly long. With no blizzard in sight, it takes no time at all to retrace their steps back along the ridge to the river.

She'll probably regret it later, but she's not going to pass up the chance for a real drink of water. She slides down at the river's edge, bending to scoop up water as beside her the chocobo drinks thirstily. There's no sign of the oretoise that had been wandering along the river only a few days previous, but there's still barely any ice along the river, a few crystals trying to form against the banks but not having much success against the swift river flow.

"We should be able to make good time today," she says, glancing along the river bank. The snow is almost non-existent along the edge of the river, and it shouldn't slow them down much at all. 

The chocobo squawks in answer, and she straightens up, turning towards it. It's another struggle to mount, but eventually she's up, lance clutched white-knuckled in one hand.

"Okay," she says, "let's go."

***

They make good time along the river's edge. The sun stays shining and the sky stays mostly clear, although Fang keeps a close eye on the clouds - if there's going to be another blizzard, they won't be taken by surprise again. There's still no sign of oretoise, or any other animal for that matter, but she tries not to let that worry her. There'd definitely been oretoise just a few days ago before the blizzard, and clearly all the other animals had also taken shelter elsewhere.

When the sun starts to close in against the horizon, they forage for food under the snow and find shelter up against an overhanging ridge, Fang tucked under the chocobo's wing to sleep.

The next day is more of the same - partly clear skies, no animals of any kind, and no sign of a blizzard. She feels much better, even after a day of riding - muscles only faintly aching now, body nearly recovered from the strain of recovering her magic.

They're most of the way through the day when Fang spots the clouds starting to gather on the horizon in front of them, low and dark. There's no ridges near them, but the river bends around a low hill a ways ahead of them, and they'll have a better idea where to find shelter after that.

"Right," she says to the chocobo, "we'd best get on around that hill, because we're looking at another blizzard tonight."

The chocobo squawks in answer, and Fang bends low against its neck as it picks up the pace, wind streaming through her hair. By the time they round the hill, the clouds are much closer, and although there's no snow falling yet they don't have much time left to find shelter.

The chocobo pulls up in a spray of snow as they clear the hill and can see ahead. There are no ridges close to them, although there do look to be some further away. But the river itself dips left and right before dropping over an edge, and there's a soft roar over the wind that indicates a waterfall.

"I think we found Suulya Springs," Fang says. "We should be able to shelter there from the blizzard."

The chocobo doesn't need any more urging - they're back on the move, heading toward the waterfall. 

The first snowflakes are just starting to fall as they reach the waterfall. It's a sharp drop - a gap maybe as wide as her lance, and the water just _pours_ over the edge into pitch darkness, the roar much louder now.

"We won't be going that way," Fang says, but she's already thinking - they'd made camp at Suulya last time, a relief to all of them to be somewhere green and blue, somewhere not the Mah'habara, and Snow and Lightning had gone up to the surface and talked out some of their issues. "Try over to the right-" she says, gesturing even though the chocobo can't see it, and they round the dark gap of the waterfall and head into the rocks on the right.

It's uneven ground, the chocobo's normally fluid gait turned jolting, and Fang hangs on tight as they twist through rocks. The chocobo stumbles to a halt and Fang realises they're on the edge of a small cliff - below them is a grassy plain, a few scraggly trees poking up here and there, and to the side, a hole in the rock wall.

"That's it," Fang says, because she'd gone up there as well, in the middle of the night while most of the others were asleep, to lay on her back and stare at the stars, trying to see familiar patterns in the midst of her confusion. "That's the entrance-"

The chocobo doesn't need any further urging, the edge of the wind starting that soft howl as the snowflakes start to come down faster. It backs up a few steps and then takes a running jump. They touch down lightly on the little plain, turning sharply toward the entrance to Suulya and vanishing inside just as the snow starts coming down in earnest.

The chocobo slows almost immediately - it's very dark, without any sunlight coming through behind them - and Fang closes her eyes and lifts a hand, careful to keep it away from the chocobo. She doesn't want to cast anything, just wants some light to see by, and Fire will serve that purpose as well as anything else.

The chocobo abruptly stops, and when she opens her eyes her hand is glowing, the soft warm of flames flicking around her fingers. It's head is turned toward her, shying away from the fire.

"It's okay," she says, voice soothing. "It's just a bit of light for us to see by. It's not going to hurt you."

The chocobo squawks weakly at her, shivering, and she pats it as best she can with the hand still holding her lance. "I can put it out if you like," she offers, and looks around them.

The entrance behind them is covered in a hissing curtain of white, the howl of the wind growing louder. In front of them, the ground slopes down and away, the dim light of the Fire enough to show the switchback turn of the path ahead.

The chocobo takes a few shuddering breaths and then straightens its neck, squawking once. "You're very brave," Fang praises it as they start forward again, taking slow steps down the rocky path. 

They round the switchback turn ahead of them, then another, the passage narrowing. The chocobo fluffs its feathers out nervously, Fang ducking her head down and pulling her hand in a little as the ceiling lowers.

"We're nearly there," she soothes, and then they round the last turn and Suulya opens up in front of them. 

The walls and water have a faint glow, some kind of phosphorescence, and she dims the Fire further still as they reach the edge of the water and start hopping from rock island to rock island, toward the larger one in the middle. She keeps her eyes open, but there's no visible sign of the underwater fal'Cie that used to live here.

Snow pours in through a few holes in the roof, hitting the water with a soft hiss. If she concentrates, she can hear the faint roar of the waterfall they'd seen up above. There are a few smaller waterfalls coming out of the walls, but they're slower, a softer rush of water that Fang finds quite soothing.

They make the last hop to the central island and Fang slides down into the sand. They can stay here for as long as they need - the plants growing around the edges of the island are edible, and they have plenty of water. Best of all, they're warm and dry.

She extinguishes the Fire and slides down, letting her eyes adjust to the faint blue-green glow of the phosphorescence. "Better than the last cave, I'll wager," Fang says, and the chocobo chirps in answer, going over to the edge of the island to take a drink.

Fang looks out at the blizzard, swirling snow still falling and hissing into the water. If this one is anything like the last one, it'll be two days before it passes. The entrance ahead will take them to Taejin's tower - which should be much easier to traverse since they chased Dahaka off last time - and they can travel down the fallen slide of tower straight to Oerba.

Baring any unforeseen problems, once the blizzard clears that should take them less than a day, and once they pass Taejin's tower the drop in altitude should take them out of the worst of the snow. Oerba in winter had only ever had the occasional snow fall - mostly drizzling rains with the odd hailstorm that decimated the fields of flowers.

Fang swallows, and cuts her eyes away from the snow to stare blankly at the water. She's been so focussed on getting to Oerba that she's not given much thought to what to do afterwards, if they get to Oerba and there's nothing there. Most of her travels had been from Oerba to the Steppe, or in that vicinity; she hadn't had an opportunity to travel much more than a few days run in the other directions, what they covered during a standard hunt, foraging for the village.

She knows there were other villages along the coast; other places people from Cocoon could have settled. She doesn't know where or how far, exactly, but she knows they existed. If there's nothing at Oerba they can always just make their way down the coast.

Fang hunkers down, digging her fingers in the sand. She's strong, and she's survived a lot, but she doesn't know how long she can go, searching and searching and finding nothing but empty ruins.

The chocobo crowds up behind her chirping, and she shakes her mind away with an effort. They can go nowhere with this blizzard outside; she should eat some of the plants, drink some water, and sleep.

***

In her dreams, they ride to Oerba, surrounded by ash and dust. There are craft from Cocoon in the approach, broken and burnt, bodies tumbled here and there around them. They ride through the streets, and it's worse than when they were here last - all the remaining buildings are burnt, smoke rising from the ashes and twisted bodies almost unrecognisable in the ashes. The grand old trees are nothing but stumps, blackened and dead.

They ride through the old schoolhouse, bodies everywhere, and up on the pier, and it's there that they find them, one by one - Sazh fallen half over Dajh, bullet holes cut through both of them. Hope, hands tied behind his back and his throat cut. Snow with his hands cut _off_ and a bullet between his eyes, and she doesn't want to look but something forces her to keep going. Serah's sprawled near Snow, two bloody gashes where her eyes used to be, blood pooling around her. Vanille's next in a broken sprawl, eyes glazed over and neck broken, and Fang swallows as they approach the last, sliding down from the chocobo. Lightning's curled over with her back to them, and she reaches out a shaking hand to touch her shoulder.

Lightning flops over on her back, and it's half of Fang's lance stabbed through her stomach, the other half jammed into her chest. Fang can feel her breath come faster, light-headed, and then Lightning's eyes snap open, white and glazed in death.

"You killed me," she snarls, fingers reaching for Fang. " _You killed me_ -"

***

Fang wakes up screaming. She's clammy and shaking, and she can’t get the image of Lightning's dead face out of her thoughts. It can’t be true, because she saved them. Her ribbon is proof enough - she saved them and Lightning’s waiting.

She lies in the sand and stares up at the falling snow, the howl of the blizzard singing over her, and tries to push the dream out of her thoughts.

***

It takes three days for this blizzard to die. 

Fang spends most of it staying awake until she's exhausted, falling into restless dreams when she's too tired to stay awake. The chocobo floats around, pushing her toward the water when it thinks she needs to drink and coming over with edible plants clutched in its beak when it's time to eat.

She spends a lot of time lying on her back in the sand, staring at the falling snow, and trying not to think of anything at all. It’s a bit of a losing battle though, because every time she closes her eyes she sees Lightning’s face.

***

The morning the blizzard blows itself out she wakes with no recollection of having dreamed. Sun is streaming through the holes in the roof, casting highlights across the water and rainbows in the spray from the little waterfalls. Fang drags herself over to the edge of the island, shedding her sari and having a cursory wash before dressing again. All going well they should reach Oerba today, and if there’s even a chance-

She shakes her head, moving over to the plants and harvesting some to take with them. They've been foraging well enough along the river, but there's no river once they head to Taejin's tower, so they'd best take some food along with them.

When she stands, bunches of plants hanging from her belt, the chocobo is grooming itself, straightening feathers with the tip of its beak.

"You look very handsome," Fang says, smiling, and the chocobo chirps, preening.

"We'd best get moving," Fang says, and bends to collect her lance from the ground. "We should make Oerba today."

She swings easily up onto the chocobo's back, settling her lance against her leg, and then they're off, the chocobo leaping easily across the little islands until they're at the path leading to Taejin's tower. Fang lifts her hand, bringing Fire to it again to light their way, and the chocobo calmly walks them into the darkness.

***

When they come out of the passage at Taejin's tower, the sunlight off the snow is blinding. The whole of the path along the side of the cliff is covered in snow, thick drifts up against the cliff face. Reassuringly, the snow is criss-crossed in animal tracks, and Fang smiles at evidence, finally, of smaller animals being out and about.

They round the cliff path carefully, squinting against the light and mindful of the drop, and go up into Taejin's tower.

The tower is still, the lift at the bottom floor, glowing lines stretching up into the darkness of the upper floors. 

"At least we don't have to climb to get to the lift," Fang says, and slides off the chocobo as they pull up at the doorway.

They go in, Fang selecting the floor and kicking the lever. The musical tones sound as they climb, all the way to the top floor.

"Nearly there," Fang says as they exit the lift, heading to the ramp to the roof, chocobo following along behind her. When they emerge into the sunshine, patches of snow scattered across the roof, she heads straight for the side nearest Oerba, shading her eyes to peer out.

She can't see much - it's mostly pale in that direction, the odd dark patch breaking up the monotony. It could be rock and ash; it could be plants and snow; it could be anything.

She shakes her head, turning away, and leads the chocobo over to the fallen tower sections.

***

It takes them some time to get down; it's a long ride, on unstable footing. The chocobo slides a few times, Fang clutching on for dear life as it stumbles back to its feet. 

When they finally emerge from the last section of tower there's grass at the edges, sheltered from the snow. Fang swallows as the chocobo stops, scratching at the grass with its claws.

She looks up, out down the slope of the hills, and there's grass there too, patchy snow covering it - less than she'd seen from the top of the tower now that there's been a few hours of sunlight. She realises she's breathing faster and consciously slows her breathing, relaxing her fingers in the chocobo's feathers. 

"It's green," she says, and the chocobo takes a few unbidden steps forward. "It's so green."

She has no doubt that in spring this would be flowering; can even see here and there now that she's looking for it, the odd dappled petal, half crushed under the snow. This can't have happened by itself, surely, even if she'd been asleep for too long - what had been here before had been ash and crystal dust, and nothing could have grown in the wake of that devastation. This has to have been deliberate.

"Let's go to Oerba," Fang says, and her voice is unsteady.

This close, she can't let herself hope.

***

There's less and less snow as they come down through the hills, and more and more flowers in evidence. They're the winter flowers, purples and oranges and blues, not the full spring riot, but it's still _flowers_ , in _Oerba_. She'd felt pieces of herself splinter off, last she was here, Oerba aching like an open wound with ash and Cie'th. She can feel those pieces starting to creep back into place, every time they round a turn in the hills and there's more flowers, greenery covering the hills around them.

They round the final turn, the chocobo taking a few steps onto the start of the road, and stop.

Oerba is _full_ of people.

The houses have been repaired with wooden boards, smoke coming from a few chimneys. There are new animal pens to each side of the road, sheep and chickens milling around, children running amok and adults tending to them, conversation and _noise_.

Fang urges the chocobo on, gazing from side to side as they come down the road. The first person to see them stops dead in place, staring. They tug on their neighbour's arm without looking, and they turn too, stopping and staring.

One by one everyone falls silent, staring as Fang and the chocobo ride past. She doesn't know what to think, just keeps riding onward. This may have been where some people from Cocoon settled, but she doesn't know how many. Doesn't know if any of her companions will be here.

They ride down into the main square, everyone still stopping to stare. She can see further now - more new buildings up along the shore, Oerba starting to approach the size that she recalls it being, back when she and Vanille were growing up. Against the afternoon sun, there are sails at the edge of the bay, fishing boats out for a day's catch, and the long pier still runs out straight into the harbour.

There are whispers now, and she's not brave enough to stop and ask, just keeps riding, down the path that leads to the bay and the pier. Surely at some point she's going to encounter someone she remembers. Someone she knows.

With every unfamiliar staring face, she wonders more and more how long she's been asleep.

They turn along the shore towards the schoolhouse and the pier, and Fang ducks her head as they ride through the doorway, coming up the stairs onto the start of the pier. There's no-one here, but she can see some silhouettes further down. If they're no-one she knows she'll have to stop and ask, and then she'll finally know for sure.

As she gets closer she can see that there are two people on the end of the pier, one sitting and one standing, the afternoon sun bright enough to disguise any other details. The wind's starting to pick up, standard for a late afternoon in Oerba, and it carries their words to Fang.

"How long are you going to do this?" one asks, female voice. "It's been three years-"

"Nearly four," the other says, and Fang's fingers tighten so hard in the chocobo's feathers that it lets out a squawk of protest, because that _voice_ -

Both figures swing around at the noise, and they're close enough, now, that she can see Serah's the one standing, lowering sun catching a halo in her hair as her mouth falls open.

"Light," Serah says, " _Light_ -" and she bends down, taking hold of Lightning's arm and almost _hauling_ her to her feet. Fang's never met Serah properly, but she can respect her for that alone.

The chocobo comes to a smooth halt, and Fang slides down, letting her lance slip to the ground. Nearly four years, Lightning had said, and the relief makes her knees weak even as she stares at the evidence in front of her. She hasn't slept too long, and Lightning's here. Lightning's _here_.

On her feet, one hand still clutching Serah's shoulder, Lightning looks as wobbly as Fang feels. The sun is catching in her hair too, now, bright halo around her face. She looks exhausted, dark circles under her eyes not all the fault of the stark afternoon shadows, and the hope in her face is painful, Fang feeling an answering clutch in her chest.

"Hi," she says, and manages one step forward, away from the chocobo's support. 

"You-" Lightning says, and pushes away from Serah. Her first step is wobbly but she gains her balance after that, crossing the distance between them in four steady strides.

All this time searching, and trying not to hope, and she'd never thought about what it might be if she _did_ find Lightning. Fang doesn't know what to expect, and then Lightning's there, relentless, and her arms are tight around her, Lightning's face pressed into the curve of her neck.

" _Fang_ ," Lightning says, voice breaking. Fang's arms come up completely without her volition and then she's clutching Lightning just as tight, breathing in the scent of Lightning's hair, nose pressed into her collar.

"I thought you were never going to wake up," Lightning is muttering, voice raw and fingers digging into Fang's back. "I thought you were gone and I'd be alone-"

"I'm here," Fang says, and if her own voice is just as raw, well, Lightning's not going to say anything. This, Lightning in her arms, it's everything she's been missing, that final splintered piece of herself smoothing back into place. "I'm here, I'm home. I promised."

"You did," Lightning says, and if the choked-off laugh that follows is a little hysterical, well, _Fang's_ not going to say anything either. She tightens her arms around Lightning, and just holds on.

This is for them, and no-one else.

***

Lightning eventually lifts her head, and Fang does too, easing back a little so they can actually look at each other.

"You're here," Lightning says, like it's everything, and maybe it is.

"I'm sorry I kept you waiting," Fang says. "It wasn't deliberate. But I'm here now."

"That's okay," Lightning says. She looks over Fang's shoulder for a moment, taking in a breath. "Vanille woke up after three months. She said she spent a day trying to reach you, wake you up, before she had to leave the spire in search of water."

"I hoped she was already awake, when I couldn't find her," Fang says quietly.

"I'd nearly given up hope," Lightning says. "I know that you slept five hundred years before, but - even just four years is a long time."

Lightning had waited four years for her, and Fang had been feeling dispirited after only a few days? She feels ashamed, and clutches Lightning close. "Sorry," she says, "I'm sorry," because Lightning has been waiting _four years_ , that's thousands of days to wait, alone.

"It's okay," Lightning says, and one hand slides up Fang's back to tangle in the hair at the nape of her neck, urging her back so that Lightning can see her. "It was worth it," Lightning says when their eyes meet, and Fang can see she's sincere, means every word. "It was worth it," Lightning says again, "because you're here now."

"You told me," Fang says, ducking her head a little. "You said we'd be together again. And I couldn't- I was so scared, when I woke up and no-one was there, and the Steppe was empty, and-" she shakes her head. "I was terrified I'd slept too long, or that you and the others hadn't made it out of Orphan's Cradle, or-"

Lightning's hand slides around her neck to press a gentle finger to her lips, and Fang stops, eyes wide. "Shh," Lightning says, "it's okay now," and Fang has to fight to keep her composure. She will not break down here, not now.

"Okay," she says instead, steadying her breathing, and Lightning's hand slides back into her hair, pressing their foreheads together. 

The wind rustles past them as the sun lowers more, that low whine starting far out in the harbour, that Fang remembers so clearly from winters past. 

"Um, I don't want to disturb you," Serah says softly from over to the side, and _goddess_ , when did Fang completely forget that there was someone else here? "Just, there are a few other people coming who want to say hello, and they'll be here in just a minute."

They draw apart a little until they're side by side, still pressed shoulder to shoulder, and Serah is off near the chocobo, one hand resting in the feathers at its shoulder and the other holding Fang's lance. "Hi Fang," she says, smiling, and Fang can only imagine the kind of support she's had to give Lightning over the last few years.

"Hi, Serah," Fang says. "Thanks for looking after Lightning while I was gone."

Lighting snorts. "I can take care of myself, thanks," she says, sounding more like the Lightning Fang knows, but Serah's smile just grows wider.

"You're welcome," she says, and steps to the side, the chocobo moving with her.

Coming along the pier, lit up by the setting sun, are figures she would recognise anywhere - Vanille and Hope, hand in hand, Hope taller than she remembers; Snow, tall and solid in the middle; and Sazh on the end walking next to a young boy, nearly up to his shoulder.

"Is that _Dajh_?" she says, because she'd heard Lightning say she's been asleep nearly four years, but it's one thing to hear it and another thing to see the six year old kid you remember suddenly over a foot taller.

"Growing taller every day," Serah says from off to the side, but Fang can't take her eyes off the others, every step they come closer reinforcing the reality.

"We saved everyone," she says, because here they are, in front of her. Lightning's fingers thread through hers, squeezing tight.

"You saved everyone," Lightning says quietly. "We're all here."

The others come to a stop a few steps away, Vanille almost bouncing in her excitement and smiles on everyone's faces.

"Hey stranger," Snow says, and then Vanille's tearing her hand free from Hope and launching herself at Fang.

"You're back!" she squeals, and Fang has to stagger a step back as Vanille's weight comes crashing into her, Fang's free hand coming up around her.

"Yeah," she says, "I'm back."

"Good," Vanille says, tightens her arms so hard for a moment that Fang has to huff out a breath, feeling her ribs creak, and then steps back. "Who's next?"

"Me," Hope says, stepping forward, and his voice is a bit lower now, more assured. "Hi Fang."

His hug is just as strong as Vanille's, if less boisterous, and it's weird for him to be taller than she is, when he steps back and she has to look _up_.

"Looks like you finally got that growth spurt," she says, and Hope just grins at her and steps back.

"We all missed you," Snow says, stepping forward, and sweeps her up into a hug so tight she's actually not touching the ground anymore.

It's nice, right up until it's not, and Fang beats on his shoulder with her free hand. "Let me down, you menace."

Thankfully Snow lets her down without arguing, grinning obnoxiously at her, and Serah darts in from the side to give her a quick hug. "Welcome back, Fang," she says, and steps back to stand in front of Snow, leaning back easily against him as one of his hands falls onto her shoulder.

"Hi Fang," Sazh says, stepping forward with Dajh by his side, looking uncomfortable. Sazh had always been the father figure to the younger l'Cie, and Fang remembers a conversation they'd had, back in the valley of the chocobo, a few weeks and four years ago, about how he wasn't doing so bad.

"Hi Sazh," she says, and reaches out to pull him into a hug.

"I'm glad you're back," he says quietly. "Lightning hasn't been the same without you."

"I heard that," Lightning mutters, but without any heat.

"I'm here now," Fang says, and slaps Sazh on the back as she lets go. "Hi Dajh."

"Hi Fang!" Dajh says, and she can't get over how tall he is. "Thanks for looking after my dad while I was all crystal!" he says, and then hugs her tight for a second before stepping away. 

"You're welcome," Fang says, feeling a little awkward now that everyone's just standing around, greetings all said and done.

"All right," Serah says, stepping forward, "Fang you've had a long trip here from the spire, yes?" she glances toward Fang for a moment but doesn't really wait for confirmation before clapping her hands together and facing everyone else. "So, Fang will go get some rest, and everyone can come to me and Snow's tomorrow morning for breakfast."

"Aww," Vanille says, and Serah makes shooing motions with her hands. 

"No arguments! Fang will still be here in the morning," she says, and everyone makes grumbling noises but starts moving down the pier.

Serah darts back over to the side and grabs Fang's lance, passing it back to her. "Goodnight, Fang. And welcome back." She gives Lightning a knowing look, then turns to the chocobo.

"Well mister, want to come with me? I can take you to meet Chocolina. I'm sure she'd love to meet a brave chocobo like you."

The chocobo chirps at her, and takes a step toward Fang, nudging her with its beak.

"Thank you," Fang says, and steps forward to hug it tight. She can feel its wings coming up against her arms, its own version of a hug. "I'll see you tomorrow."

The chocobo squawks at her, then turns back to Serah and heads down the pier after the others.

Alone at last, Fang lets out a long breath. Lightning's fingers squeeze hers. "Come on," she says, and tugs Fang back toward the edge of the pier. "I have it on good authority that you love it up here."

"Vanille told you, didn't she," Fang says, and lets herself be moved until she's seated next to Lightning, legs dangling off the edge of the pier as they watch the setting sun hand in hand. It's just touching the horizon now, sails of the fishing boats dark silhouettes against it as they race for home on the rising wind.

"She said you could feel the wind," Lightning says. "Told us stories about growing up in Oerba, how half the time she'd wake up at night and find you out here."

"Yeah," Fang admits, and lets herself stare out at the sun, wind lifting her hair from her shoulders. "Is that why you were out here?"

Lightning huffs a breath, looking down. "Yeah," she says after a moment. "It was... hard. I'd come to rely on you, more than you probably know, and then-" She stops, and Fang can fill in the space herself: Orphan, Ragnarok, crystal. "I felt closer to you, here, than anywhere else in Oerba."

Fang uses their joined hands to tug Lightning in, untangling their fingers and wrapping her arm around Lightning's shoulders instead.

She can't make up for the four years she spent asleep; can't spare that pain from Lightning. "I'm here now," she says instead, and they sit together in silence as the sun sets.

***

Fang manages to hold off her breakdown all the way into the evening. She accompanies Lightning back to her home, a small three room building just on the outskirts of Oerba, manages to eat a few mouthfuls of food Lightning heats for her on the simple stove, and has a long, hot shower in the tiny bathroom.

It's when she's finished washing and is just standing under the spray, warm all through, that she feels the shaking start. She has enough presence of mind to turn the water off and step out of the shower, snagging the towel from the rail, before her knees give out and she sinks down onto the mat, clutching the towel to her chest as she shakes and shakes.

She must make some kind of noise, because it seems like only a moment later that Lightning knocks carefully at the door, voice soft. "Fang?"

She's breathing in short gasps, can't find the air to answer her, but it's moot anyway because the door cracks open slowly, Lightning squeezing through the gap. "Fang?"

She can tell the moment Lightning catches sight of her, hears her breath catch over the rasp of her own breathing and the thunder of her heartbeat in her ears, and then Lightning's kneeling beside her, one arm thrown across back and pressed in close, heedless of the way Fang's still dripping water everywhere.

"Fang, _Fang_ ," Lightning's murmuring, close enough that her nose is brushing Fang's cheek. "You're safe, it's okay. You're home. I'm here," and when Fang can't seem to find calm, still struggling with the remnants of her control, "just breathe with me."

Lightning breathes, slow and heavy in her ear, hand moving slowly back and forth on Fang's shoulder, and after a while she finds herself matching it without even trying, heartbeat receding in her ears.

"Can you stand?" Lightning asks after a while, quiet, and Fang nods jerkily, because even if she can't Lightning will catch her. Lightning has always caught her when it counted, Orphan's Cradle and further back, the Fifth Ark and more, right to their first meeting at Palumpolum.

She pushes to her feet, Lightning's arm gentle across her shoulders. She couldn't have asked, but Lightning seems to know what she needs, staying pressed close to her as they stagger awkwardly out of the bathroom. She lets Lightning guide her, and then they're at a bed, Lightning turning the covers down one handed.

"In you get," Lightning says. "I'll be right behind you."

"But," Fang says, because she's still covered in water, and that can't be good for Lightning's mattress. "I'm-"

She stops as Lightning slides around her, gentle hands tugging the towel away from her death-grip.

"Okay," Lightning says, and gives her a quick pat dry, wringing the mass of her hair in the towel at the end. "Better?"

Fang nods, clambering awkwardly in under the covers, and Lightning drops the towel on the floor and moves to the other side of the bed, stripping down to underclothes in quick efficient motions. She's just started to shiver again as Lightning climbs in beside her, and lets herself be moved by Lightning's gentle hands until she's on her stomach, half-draped over Lightning, with her face pressed into Lightning's throat and Lightning's hands tight around her back.

"I've got you," Lightning says, and Fang slides her hands up to clutch at Lightning as she shakes, surrounded and held down and _cared_ for.

Gradually her shakes turn back into shivers, warmth starting to seep through her, and she doesn't notice when she slips into sleep.

***

She half-wakes once, from dreams; she remembers Lightning murmuring low in her throat, a hand carding gentle through her hair, and falls back into sleep.

***

She wakes properly sometime after dawn, soft yellowish light peeking in from under the curtains. She's still tangled with Lightning, leg between hers and head on her shoulder, near hand up over Lightning's heart. Lightning still has an arm around her, loosely resting on her side, and her chin is tucked down over Fang's head.

"I forgot," Lightning says softly, "that for you, Ragnarok was only a few days ago. I-" she pauses, and Fang can hear the clicking of her throat as she swallows. "I had my breakdown years ago."

"The last thought in my head, before I fell into crystal," Fang says, "was of you, and keeping my promise. And when I woke up alone-"

Lightning's other hand slides into her hair. "I tried to leave you messages," she says. "We collapses the entrances to other cities from the Steppe, and planted over so many places with Oerba flowers. You got the ribbon, at least."

"It helped," Fang says, swallowing down the surge of emotion she feels at that, remembering how she'd felt when the chocobo had handed her the ribbon, knowing for sure that Lightning had survived. "It helped a lot."

"Good," Lightning says, and there's silence for a time, Lightning's hand slowly stroking through Fang's hair.

Fang knows to a point that Lightning cares for her; they are, at this very moment, tangled together in Lightning's bed. But last night had been emotional for everyone, and Fang had been having a breakdown; it would be easy for her to assume and overstep the mark. If it turns out she's making assumptions, better for her to have all of her breakdown at once.

"I," she says, and pauses, trying to find the right words. "There were a few places where thinking of you was the only thing that kept me going," she says, and hears Lightning swallow again, hand tightening in her hair. "So if I'm overstepping my bounds, you should - say something. So that I can know."

Lightning's hand in her hair tugs a little, and Fang lifts her head in response. Lightning's looking at her, and oh. _Oh_. It's fierce and fond and full of all of the emotions Fang can't even name herself even as she's feeling them, finished off with a little bit of exasperation.

"You idiot," Lightning says, fierce, and her hands tighten on Fang, possessive. "I chose you a long time ago."

" _Light_ ," Fang breathes, and something in her face must give her away, because Lightning's expression gentles just a little.

"I chose you then, Oerba Yun Fang," Lightning says, "and I choose you again now."

And _oh_ , Vanille's been talking, because this isn't something that Lightning should know. A small part of her wonders how long Lightning has been thinking about this, practising these phrases, but the rest of her is hanging on Lightning's every word as she continues.

"I would bind myself to you, and have you bind yourself to me in turn, for the rest of our days," Lightning says, and she moves her hand from Fang's hair to cover Fang's where it still sits over her heart, threading their fingers together. "Will you accept my pledge?"

It's everything, _everything_ , and Fang can hear her heartbeat in her ears again, even as Lightning waits, calm, for her answer, like she knows what Fang's going to say. She's always seemed to know Fang better than Fang knew herself.

"I've always chosen you, Lightning Farron," Fang gets out, her voice suddenly hoarse, mouth dry, "and I choose you again now." She's a kid again, lined up in one of the wild places, watching two of the adults handfasting in front of everyone and their ancestors; she's a teenager, standing witness with Vanille as a friend from the orphanage makes promises to her sweetheart; she's here, naked in Lightning's bed in more ways than one, and she's never been more serious in her life.

"I accept your pledge, and would bind myself to you for the rest of our days," Fang finishes, and her voice is steadier now. "May our ancestors stand witness."

Lightning smiles then, and it's something Fang hadn't even known she'd been missing until now, that soft, real smile that she's only ever seen once or twice before.

Everyone's here, everyone's safe; and she might have kept them waiting but she's here now, too, and Lightning's hers, pledged and forever.

She's home.


End file.
